Losing the "Commune" in Community

Today I had some sad news.

The day started off great.  Me, my roomate and my little sister all went down to the local Farmer's Market, which is always a fantastic experience.  This time we were a bit more daring in our purchases, besides the usual onions, potatoes and carrots we bought Red Pepper Jelly, Bison meat, Cow Neck, and Purple Cauliflower.  No, I'm not lying, the cauliflower is a beautiful lavendar colour, and I've been informed it will turn mauve when cooked.  Not sure exactly what mauve is, but I'm assuming it's pretty.  :P

After a great time outside in the spitting rain and the cold wind buying local fresh goods, we went inside the building beside the outdoor farmers market, where there is a sort of flea market on weekends.  It's a cute little place - not many stalls, but the ones that are there are cute.  There is quite a variety too, from people who have handmade animals hats and baby blankets, to antique and homemade jewlery, to native-american art to old books and movies, to crossbows (yep, for real), to custom hula hoops.  Well we just found out from one sweet older lady who works at a jewlery stand that this may well be the last year of the flea market in our town.  Somehow or other, it is no longer economically viable, and the building is to be sold.

I understand the importance of markets being economically viable.  Really, I do.  But there is something in that romantic nature of mine that tells me there is a loss in the vanishing of a local market, beyond the fact that I will no longer be able to find jewlery for under $5.

Local markets are a place where everyone in the community can come, and support local people trying to make their living.  It is a place beyond contracts and middle-men and beeping cashes.  It's a place where you get to know the people you buy from, you come to trust some and be wary of others, you interact with the people who MAKE your food, you care about them, and they care about you.  There is an understanding that can develop between counting out exact exact change, and trading it for a huge clove of garlic, or a hand-carved salad bowl.  A human connection that is swiftly being lost in an increasingly fast-track commercialized society.  This is not to bash capitalism - I'm all for capitalism...I guess this is just to bash commercialism, which detaches us from our food and clothing, and from our neighbours who produce them.

I really do believe that we should all try our best to keep the "commune" in community; find places where you can buy things from people, not computers or contracted companies, and take the time care about not only what you are buying, but those who provide them to you.  There's nothing I love more than walking into a shop that isn't too too crowded, where the employees smile at you and recognize you and maybe even know what you're looking for.  That's where our money should be; where our hearts and our smiles are.

The Life&Times of a Student Kitchen

Anyone who's struggled with a budget knows what "A Student Kitchen" means - pretty much, you've got most of the basics, and are missing most of the tools and utensiles.  Which makes cooking impossible...right?? - Well, remember, cooking was happening long before the potatoe masher, the spatula, and even the electric stove were invented.  My motto in the kitchen is "If the pioneers could make this, then I can too!"  All you need is some ingenuity!

I'll let you in on some food projects my friends and I have undertaken in our student kitchen:

1) Making meatloaf with no loaf-tray.  Solution: cook the meat in an all-metal pot, in muffin-trays, or in carefully-shaped aluminum-foil; yes that is possible, trust me.
2) Mashed potatoes with no potato-masher.  Solution: Use the bottom of a clean glass.  Works!
3) Home-Made Icecream without a mixer for the whipped cream.  Solution: Three girls, one wisk and two forks.  It's a good way to vent frustration and build some arm muscles.  Maybe the whipped cream wasn't quite whipped, but it thickened enough to make some killer home-made icecream!!!  :)
5) Hummus, sans blender or food processor.  Here again, we mashed up the chickpeas, along with everything else, with the bottom of a glass.  It didn't look as smooth as it could have, but taste was not compromised. (we did that one today!)

And then there are the usual- pots instead of salad bowls and mugs instead of cereal bowls.  Never be afraid to cook as a student because you're not equipped like a pro.  Remember, the pros learned from their teachers, who learned from their grandmothers, who learned from their grandmothers, who would have laughed in scorn at the idea of a garlic press or a lightbulb in an oven.

The Life&Times of our Student Kitchen (minus a few minor fires of course) is pretty darn awsome.  :)

My Halloween Challenge Freaking You Out?

Well, it's that time of the week - the Halloween countdown on our block has begun!  Families are putting out there decorations, which have developed a nasty habit of blowing away in the wind these last few days, and neighbourhood kids have been trying on their costumes over their school cloths and running down the street to break them in.  True to form, my house was able to take on my Halloween challenged issued on the last post.  Here's an update:

We made super-baggies this year!  With extra sandwich glad bags, we put in one super-cool-designed pencil, one milk chocolate race-car, one candy necklace, and two individual bags on Maynard's candy (sour peaches, sweedish berries, etc).  The bags are fun and colourful, contain something useful, and kids love to see what's in them.  22 baggies, and lots of candy left over for any extra kids!  :)

So let's break that down - The Maynard's 75 candy pack was, rounding up, $7.  The Big bin of candy necklaces was $5.  The chocolate cars were $4 in total, and the 22 pencils I got in two seperate packs at the dollar store, each costing $2.  That brings the cost up to $20, not including the glad sandwich bags, which were already in our kitchen.

We took a trip to the grocery store and went food-happy!  A 2kg bag of rice, a big bag of noodles, a can of peas, of corn, and of mixed vegetables, a box of couscous, two cans of tuna, and three big cans of heart Habitant soups&stews brought the count to just under $22.  We bought that list, and left the bags in the food-bank bin at the back of the grocery store.  And it was a lot of fun shopping for food for someone else!

And there you have it - proof this challenge is possible!  But why go on hearsay - try it yourself and see!!!  You'll be surprised at how fun, and thrifty, it can be!!  So go on, give your inner-Scrooge a scare, and tackle the Halloween challenge!  You'll be glad you did.

A Halloween Challenge to Scare your Inner-Scrooge and Cheer your Inner-Crachet

I apologize for mixing metaphors in the title, but it seemed appropriate for the challenge I'm about to issue.

People usually either love Halloween, or they hate it.  Those in between usually like nothing about it except handing stuff out to the cute kids, or buying candy on sale Nov. 1 at Walmart.  Whichever category you fall into, this challenge is for you.
The key to this Halloween Challenge is to remember one thing:  Most kids want candy; All kids need food.

So the challenge is:  FIRST: To all you folks buying candy - either to hand out, or on sale - keep track of how much you are spending on candy.  Then take the same amount you spent on your candy, and buy the equivalent in foodstuffs for your local food bank.  SECOND: For those of you who hand out candy, keep some cans handy to hand out to trick-or-canners, in addition to what you've bought for the food bank yourself.  THIRD: slightly unrelated to food, but if you want to make your treats to kids enjoyable for longer than the 10 seconds it takes them to chew it, consider making baggies that include a chocolate bar, and shiny halloween penicl or a cool halloween eraser (I used to be very proud of getting those as a kid myself) and maybe even a colourful-looking pack of dental floss.  Be creative!

The foodbank needs your support to feed people in your community.  Remember that hunger is usually invisible.  It's really easy to give - if you can't make it to the foodbank to drop things off yourself, your grocery store will usually have a bin at the back for donations.  Here is a list of some foods in high demand at most foodbanks, and some other things that might make your donation unique:

-Rice   -Flour   -Canned vegetables   -Peanut Butter   -Honey   -Canned soups or broths    -Noodles    -Pasta Sauce   -Jam   -Canned Fruits   -Canned Meats / Fish   -Powdered Milk   -Baby Formula   -Fruit Juices 

So let's make this Halloween one with an impact.  Please participate in this challenge, and even let me know how it goes!  I will definitly let you all in on the weight of my house's after Halloween. 

And remember - Most kids want candy; All kids need food.

A Cool Project to Fill a Guy's Spare Hours...

Have you started planning for your retirement?  I don't just mean starting savings bonds and RRSPs, but thinking about what you're gonna DO with yourself after you don't work anymore.  Well here are some ideas:  What's more exciting than a world tour of all those places you've only dreamed of but were too poor to back-pack in your youth?  What could be more cozy than investing in a cottage, tucked away under Canadian lake-side foliage?  And what could be more natural than turning your handy-man side to builidng a scale replica of Noah's Ark?

That's right - I said Noah's Ark.  But don't think I am brilliant or original, because it's been done.

Meet Johan Huibers, a Dutch contractor who, wanting to exemplify his faith in the Bible's literal truth, built a model of the ark, to scale.  Now whether his faith was coupled by slow buisness or bored retirement, I don't know, but if it was I'm kinda glad, because this thing is AMAZING.  If you look at the picture, this thing is HUGE, and yet it isn't even the full size given in the Bible.  And what gets me most of all is, it's stationed in a port.  Yeah, that does mean it floats.  He built a freakin ark and it floats.

Construction began in 2005, Johan using modern tools, and working on it largely solo, with the help of his son.  Apparently his wife helped with the drawings as well.  I believe it is completely finished now.  It is enormous inside, with life-sized models of giraffes, elephants and bison inside, as well as containing as small petting zoo (which I think is a great and hilarious touch), and a small theatre that plays a film on Noah's life.  Oh - and it floats.

So three cheers for Johan, and I think his family also deserves a pat on the back.  Now you all have a challenge for your own retirements - don't just do something; do something cool!

For more pictures of the ark, check out this link to the photo gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/paulthedane/noahs_ark

A Touching Story never before told:

The Life of the Majestic Plastic Bag - sure to inspire and entertain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLgh9h2ePYw

Stress + Cold Season = Misery? How to fight it Off.

Well we all know how miserable it can be rushing off to work in the morning, or cramming for an exam, and struggling to breath through a stuffed nose and aching lungs.  Not only is it cold and flu season, but also a more stressful time of year as exams approach at school, and winter driving makes getting to work more strenuous.  So here are some helpful hints to fight off colds, and reduce your stress:

1) WASH YOUR HANDS!!  And this doesn't mean running them under water for three seconds.  Use soap and scrub, over your palms and between your fingers.  The two most important times to wash your hands are after you use the washroom, and before you eat.  You'll eliminate two bouts of the flu right there.

2)Diet - your diet plays an important role in both your ability to fight off sickness, and your stress reduction.  Drink a cup of Echincea tea, heavily steeped, every day to boost your immunce system.  Include a good variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet -  oranges, tomatoes, kiwi and apples are good sources of vitamin C, and their natural sugars will keep you from craving chocolate during your stressed moments.

3) Hot Toddys.  They deserve a point of their own.  Hot lemonade (or tea) with a spoonful of rum and a spoonful of honey before bed will stop your coughing and let you sleep.  But remember, even these should be drunk responsibly!  ;)

4)Sleep and Excercise - get enough of both!!!  If you are trapped inside by a snowstorm, run up and down the stairs - if you find that too embarassing, then do some excercises in your room.  This is will hugely reduce your stress, help you concentrate better, and help you sleep more soundly.  Sleep is the kicker - you need it.  Get it.

5) The Wind-down - if you need to wind down before you sleep, by all means do it, but don't let it be with activities that will keep you from falling asleep when you are able.  Watching movies at 11:30pm before bed probably isn't such a great idea, since it won't end 'til morning (I've learnt that by experience).  Instead, try turning off all the lights, lying under the covers, and playing music.  This will wind you down, and won't keep you up when you start getting drowsy.

And last but not least: Attitude.  Keep it up.  A positive attitude is truly the cure for most ills.  Stay happy, even when you feel like you're losing focus.  Spend time with your family and friends, think as positivly as possible, play a little and pray a lot, smile at strangers, and if all else fails - curl up in front of the tv with a funny movie.

Amazing Recipe: Kopakima

For those of you who are asking "Kopa-what's-a?" let me describe this as the best food ever. Period.  Ok, well you can't be a vegetarian, and you have to like curry at least a little bit, and you can't be on a diet that rules out carbs, because this is served with rice.  If none of the listed stipulations apply to you, read on, try, and enjoy.
Ingredients:
Olive oil
Spices: Ginger, Curry Powder, Salt, Pepper
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large carrot
1 bunch spinach
1 cup tomato paste (make sure it has not been pre-spiced with anything other than salt)
Rice
Mango Chutney (you can find it at any grocery store, so don't worry)
Instructions:
Line the bottom of a large soup pot with olive oil.  Chop the peice of garlic and the onion, and brown at the bottom of the pot over medium heat.  Add ground beef, and spice with a dash of salt and pepper, 1 tsp of ginger, and 2 tsp of curry powder (not heaping tsps!).  Brown the meat.  Add chopped carrot, spinach and tomato paste.  Stir well.  Let simmer-stirring occasionally- for half hour, or until the carrots gain desired consistancy.  Serve in a bowl ontop of rice, and top with a generous spoonful of Mango Chutney.  Stir and Enjoy!!!!   :D

Welcome

A big Hello to the vastness of cyberspace and anyone floating through it who happened to end up here!  While I write this, my first official blog post, the Leafs are losing to Philly 5-2, which personally, I find a little depressing...if not unexpected.

Well, my first day here, I wanna share some great news that's made a lot of other Canadian Catholics happy:  Quebec's own Brother Andre has been SAINTED!!  That's right!  So if anyone out there thinks that just because they're not crazy-educated they can't make a huge impact, remember Brother Andre did!  Anyone interested in the story and Canada's response, here's a good link:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/quebecs-brother-andre-canonized-as-canadas-1st-saint-of-the-21st-century-105128839.html  So congradulations Canada, and Congradulations Brother Andre!